davidmccain

You're right. The last show was exciting and fun.

Spirit is now 18th going into Prelims behind Vanguard Cadets and BDB.

I think they are all using Heavy Synth these days.

If you really want to hear synth doubling sit through Cadets practice. With horns on air, there was very little difference between horns and no-horns. Bluecoats are synth thru-and-thru as well.

I haven't heard anything about staff leaving. Brass staff is really good.

They had a lot of competition for the snare line this year. That girl you are talking about beat out a lot of older kids and really talented kids to get the job. And, she can play and has a great attitude. Plus, I liked her from day one when I saw her whistling "Georgia" everywhere she went.

I met those to young people tonight. They are excited to join and finish out the Summer with Spirit. Great kids and I love the accents.

Do you know the twitter name? I can't find it.

" Laissez les bons temps rouler " (Lazay-Lay Bon-Tom Roulay) which means "Let the Good Times Roll" in Cajun. Good Luck to all the Corps tonight and I hope you get some Quality H20 from Bobby Boucher after the show.

I love Academy's stragegy this year. Seems to be: come out late with cleaner than normal show, then test the waters and take another little break to fix, change, clean. Then a lot of shows coming into the home stretch to give opportunities to seperate from the crowd late. But, that's just my opinion.

Cool. I am actually really digging the exchange with you as well. You've got some really great points. Success breeds future success when they attract the best kids. Yo-yo seasons cripple the efforts. Staff changes cause kids to re-think where they want to be. A huge number of vets didn't return this year. But it is what it is. We Southerners like to hold on to what used to be sometimes. (and, no I'm not talking about that stupid flag thing.) I grew up with Spirit and would like to see them successful again. But then again there are different ways to define success.

Nolan was my kid's Band Director from 8th to 11th grade in Mississippi. He's a really good guy. He seems to be having a lot fun with MCDC this year.

They sound really good. Deep rich sound that the Yamahas don't produce. The kids are louder. Last year I used the cheap Iphone dB meter app at got Spirit at 108dB. This year I got them consistently at 110dB and as much as 112dB. That was early on when the Caption Head was working on tone quality instead of volume.

And I guess you know Nolan Jones as well.

Hey, I marched at Memphis State with a Tuba Player named Elmo that was in MB3. I guess you know him too.

By the way, today is the 35 anniversary of Jim Ott's death and the first live performance of Spirit of Atlanta that I attended in 1980 in Memphis. He was only 30 years old at the time but he acheived more than a lot will ever do in their lifetime. One tragedy on July 8th is enough.

I agree

I saw the picture when it was posted. I thought nothing of it and didn't see anything inappropriate. After your comment, I went back and looked at it again and I still don't get your prospective. I sincerely doubt that that your person has any intention to say "kiss our ###" to anyone nor does she care about any critics. They are probably too busy having fun to log in here and read the BS. But, I respect everyone's opinion and I enjoy the exchange of others who have different views other than my own. And, I would be honest with you whether or not we agreed on the subject. Have a great summer and if you see me at a show somewhere please say hello. Cheers.

I imagine raising nearly a million dollars each year to put a drum corps down the road is a major undertaking and nerve-racking as well. I hope the person who put it out there that Spirit is in trouble when it turns out that it isn't in trouble is shown the door. News of that nature should come from the Board CEO and not some person who doesn't have all of the facts.

removed post - sorry

Well at least 1 GE judge like it.

What did Spirit add?